Mellow Johnny's Classic - November 22, 2009
Racing at Lance Armstrong's Ranch
Click here to view the full article as I wrote it with all the pictures that were included.
The Racing Post website is http://theracingpost.us
Here's the orginal abbreviated story:
November 22, 2009
Today I took part in the Mellow Johnny’s Classic mountain bike race put on to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. What made the race special was that for the first time, Lance opened his ranch west of Austin to the public for a race. The number of entrants was limited to 700. It filled up a day and half after registration opened.
Friday, the area received 2” of rain which made the race course muddy in some places and slippery most places. The weather for Saturday was predicted to be sunny. That never happened. At three in the afternoon a group from my race team decided to test the mud and our skills. We cautiously made our way around the 8 mile race course. The technical rocky sections had to be walked because they were too slippery to even attempt.
Sunday was predicted to be sunny. When I got up at 5:45 and checked the weather, it said fog, clearing at noon – after my race. The pros were riding at 1:30 so they would have the benefit of some sun.
It was in the 50s when my race started. I only wore a short sleeved jersey and shorts. Everyone took it cautiously since it was so slippery. Some people had problems with riding in the mud, but I decided that I was having fun splashing in the creeks and getting plastered by the flying mud. I ended up in 6th place right behind my Bicycles Inc teammate, Danny Sanchez. I didn’t know that the best part of the day was still to come.
(Story continues in the picture captions.)
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